Huge events in Toronto and nationwide signal Nintendo Day on November 21st!

November 21st is a big day for Nintendo of Canada.  In addition to the launches of 4 new products to the market, Nintendo is holding a Canada-wide block party starting with a huge event in Toronto this Thursday!

The 4 products I’m speaking of are 3 big games that come out November 21st, and the amiibo line which debuted last week.

Let’s chat first about Nintendo Day, and the event that kicks it off in Toronto on Thursday. Pop downtown on Thursday night at the Skywalk (connecting CN Tower and Union Station to the Rogers Centre) for a huge event put on by Nintendo of Canada.  Dress up in your best homage duds and take part in the cosplay contests, or just drop in to sneak peek Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo WiiU, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire for the Nintendo 3DS hours before release and get yourself accustomed to the full line of amiibo.

Time: 4 PM – 10 PM

Location: The PATH – Skywalk  Union Station 65 Front St. W. Toronto, ON  M5J 1E6

If you’re not in Toronto, don’t worry. Get a good night’s sleep because Friday, November 21st is Nintendo Day, and numerous Best Buy locations are involved with the celebration. All sessions are open from 1 PM – 7 PM local time.  Join the Nintendo team for the fun of these new games as well as giveaways (while supplies last!)

Here are a list of the Best Buy locations participating nationwide:

Whether you’re in Toronto or around the corner from your local Best Buy, be sure to drop in and share your experiences online using the hashtag #NintendoDay

As mentioned, coming out this Friday are 2 big Pokemon relaunches, and Super Smash Bros for the WiiU.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are remakes of the wildly popular 2002 Ruby and Sapphire games for the Game Boy Advance.  Gaming Urban legend says the originals came out during a phase of Pokemon’s dwinding popularity, and still sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. If you don’t remember back to when the game originally came out, remember it for one main feature: It was the first Pokemon title to allow for double Pokemon battles. Now it’s time to relive the magic on the Nintendo 3DS.

Then there’s Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo WiiU. One of the most unlikely runaway hits from the Nintendo 64 days, the series has continued to flourish and grow its fanbase in the 15 years since. This iteration brings out the biggest and baddest roster of capable fighters and foes alike meeting for no real reason other than to prove who is the best of the best.  With a huge roster, huge playing fields and so many unlockables and items that you could never play the same game twice, Super Smash Bros is sure to be a late contender for game of the year.

Look forward to a review of Super Smash Bros for Nintendo WiiU in the coming days here at Plug In.

Lastly, there’s the amiibo product line.  When I saw the original designs for the amiibo, I was expecting that they would be decent looking plastic replicas in the very least, but I wasn’t expecting the high quality these figures are. The amount of detail laid into each piece is great, down to the texturing of Mario’s jeans.  These are both gaming tokens and collectibles alike, and Nintendo has the pleasure of implementing them into many games, as opposed to just a single franchise. You can already look forward to playing with and leveling up your amiibo in Mario Kart 8, and soon will be able to do it in Smash Bros, Mario Party 10 and many other titles in the future. Look forward to a review of the amiibo as well in the coming days.

Overall, this was a pretty big year from Nintendo with a really diverse array of games.  Bravely Default really opened this year for me on a strong note and is now one of favourite RPG titles of all time. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright crossed over two franchises that you wanted to see come together, but weren’t sure how it would be possible (and it was.) I had the opportunity to review a lot of the Nintendo releases this year, as did Kurt Diston  Here is a full list of what we reviewed of the 2014 batch:

Bravely Default (3DS)

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (WiiU)

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (3DS)

Yoshi’s New Island (3DS)

Disney Magical World (3DS)

Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)

Mario Golf World Tour (3DS)

Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)

Tomodachi Life (3DS)

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (3DS)

Hyrule Warriors (WiiU)

Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS (3DS)

Fantasy Life (3DS)

It’s a bright future ahead for Nintendo, and there’s no better way to help them close out 2014 by attending and being a part of Nintendo Day.